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| Backpack | 65.87 Miles |
9,182 AEG |
| | Backpack | 65.87 Miles | 5 Days | | |
| 9,182 ft AEG | | | | |
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| no partners | | This was my most ambitious undertaking while at Glacier National Park and the reason I chose to spend my summer in the northern Rockies. A big thanks to @tibber who spent a couple hours in Starbucks with me putting together the itinerary for this trip and teaching me the ins and outs of a permit system where first time success is rare.
The Belly River region is a lesser traveled area in the far northwest corner of the park. The trailhead for this park starts about 500 feet from the Canadian border. I spent a night at four separate lakes: Elizabeth, Helen, Mokowanis and Cosely and made two side trips up Red Gap and Stoney Indian Pass. The weather was generally great with no rain, but it was a little warm at times. There was no rhyme or reason to the bugs though, some lakes seemed to be devoid of them, while at others they were so bad I was compelled to retreat to my tent.
Day one was a very standard hike into the foot of Elizabeth Lake backcountry campground. The highlights of this day were the large meadows along the Belly River Trail, Dawn Mist Falls and Elizabeth Lake at twilight, although, it should be noted that twilight does not come until about 10 p.m. in Glacier this time of the year. The backcountry campground at the foot of Elizabeth was also superb and I would strongly recommend trying to reserve a site at the foot of the lake versus the head.
I started day two off by putting on my slack pack and heading up Red Gap Pass. The views from the pass were amazing and the portions of the trail above the treeline were unique and scenic. In particular, there were some great views of Helen and Elizabeth Lakes, as well as the glaciers that were feeding them. After my little nine mile side trip, I made the short 4.5 mile hike to my campsite at the desolate Helen Lake. The bugs nearly carried me away at Helen, but I shared the lake with some pretty cool Polish ladies via Wisconsin and slept very well at the remote lake.
I hiked to the foot of Elizabeth Lake with my camping neighbors and then began a long hike to Mokowanis Lake. I used the Cosley Cutoff to save some redundant mileage and took a nice break at Cosely Lake on the way to Mokowanis. This campsite ended up being my favorite of the five day trip, as I had the entire lake to myself. I also did a little exploring based on another backpacker's lead and found a pretty nice little off trail route to a nice set of falls and another lake. Although, I only went to the falls, as I was trying to play it a little safe, being solo and off trail. I ate well, swam a lot and slept great.
After a quick hike out to the Mokowanis River backcountry campground, I hung my gear and put on the slack pack for a quick trip up Stoney Indian Pass. This pass and the hike up proved to be the highlight of my backpack into the Belly River area and one of the highlights of my month in the northern Rockies. In fact, the scenery from the tiny but scenic Atsina Lake to the pass was perhaps some of the most scenic and awe inspiring trail I have hiked. The fireworks start at Atsina when the impressive twin falls Atsina and Paiota come into view along with another equally impressive one thundering down from the basin above them. The two fords at the top were running fast and were not dry crossings. The final push up to the pass highlighted by an unnamed lake, views of glaciers and distant waterfalls. After reaching the pass, the other side yielded even more treasure, highlighted by the brilliantly blue Stoney Indian Lake. I took a quick break here and returned to my gear for the five, or so mile hike to my campsite on Cosley Lake. This lake was certainly one of my favorites and very scenic with a great sites that included little private beaches and a very scenic spot to eat meals.
The final day was a quick 9.5 mile hike out, with the highlight undoubtedly being the Gros Ventre Falls. The rest of the hike was trail already covered and nothing overly eventful.
Its hard to identify favorite backpacks anymore these days, but this little trek certainly ranks somewhere near the top of my list and its beauty rivaled the Sierra Nevada, something I thought not possible. Its hard to articulate, but everything seemed a little more wild out there and I feel I encountered a level of wilderness that I have never encountered before. This backpack only marked about my halfway point at Glacier and much more would follow, however, this trip into the backcountry probably left me the most fulfilled and on so many different levels. |
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